sharing a data point since this community needs more fintech numbers.
Role: Senior SWE (L5 equivalent) Location: SF, hybrid Offer date: March 2026 Base: $195k Equity: $320k over 4 years, standard 1-year cliff. private co so liquidity is a question mark obviously. Bonus: no target bonus, discretionary. recruiter was vague, said 'market competitive' Sign-on: $25k
Total year-1 TC: ~$300k all-in if you count equity at grant price, which is a stretch assumption for a private co.
negotiated from initial base of $182k. they moved $13k on base without much pushback, didn't move equity. think i left a little on the table but was tired.
for comparison: had a competing offer from a public fintech at $185k base + $280k equity (liquid). went with Plaid because the problem space is more interesting. personal call.
4 replies
contractor_kai
private co equity at face value is risky math. that's not a criticism of your decision, just worth flagging for anyone reading this: a $320k grant from Plaid and $280k from a public co are not the same $280k. the public co number is real today. the Plaid number depends on what a future liquidity event looks like.
firsttime_mgr
counterpoint: Plaid has been around long enough, has real revenue, and has navigated regulatory chaos to a point where 'will this company exist in 4 years' is not the question. the question is what the strike price vs FMV spread looks like. did they tell you that?
numbers_only
they gave me the 409a in the offer docs. spread is meaningful but I'm not posting specifics. bottom line: I modeled a few scenarios, base case made sense for my situation.
visa_vik
do they sponsor H1B transfers for senior roles? i know they've done it historically but curious if anyone has recent info on that.